The ones destined to meet
by Maria - Madoka Ayukawa
Summary: Jet and Joe should've never met each other. And yet, they did. JoexJet slash, written for the 30 kisses LJ comm. Spoilers for the 2001 series. ONE-SHOT!


"The ones destined to meet"  
A Cyborg 009 ficlet by Maria.  
Warning: Spoilers for the whole 2001 series. Shonen-ai/yaoi.

* * *

I live in Japan, he lives in America. I'm a college student, he's a social worker. I spent my youth years in the streets of Kanazawa, playing with my friends and having freelance jobs; he spent his' in the Bronx, fighting to survive.

And more importantly... When he was a kid, I wasn't even born.

We were two persons who should've never ever met. If everything went just like it was supposed to be, by the current days he would most likely be dead, or would've grown up into a disenchanted, embittered man. I would've been either a delinquent, a normal salary man or the right hand of the priest who raised me. Who knows, so many things could've happened...

But Black Ghost came into our lives. While he was trying to escape from a gangster quarrel, he was kidnapped, subjected to torture and experiments, and then put into a cryogenic sleep. Years later, I was born from an unfortunate single mother who died few after I came into this world, and spent the life of a lonely and bittersweet orphan until my mentor was killed and, while trying to prove that I wasn't the one who killed him, Black Ghost also grabbed a hold on me.

And then, we met. As the part of a squad of renegade Cyborgs who ran away from Black Ghost, we spent many months fighting the evil that threatened to destroy what was left of good in this world, to make it its realm of bloodshed and pain. But we didn't give up, and in the end, we won our lives back and destroyed the organization. Not only once, but twice, and in the second time he was right by my side me after I gave the Black Ghosts leaders the finishing touch in the outer space.

As I was falling down to Earth in his arms, I asked him to let me die and save himself. But he just held me tighter and said he wouldn't leave me no matter what. I pleaded, I insisted, I yelled... but he didn't. He didn't want to lose me after he had just reached for me to fulfill his promise to Francoise and to himself. I could almost see my other best friend down on Earth, waiting for us, praying for us to come back... even when it was almost for sure than we would both die. And yet, he didn't leave me, and as I gradually lost consciousness I could hear him telling me that he and I felt and thought the same...

But we didn't die. Ivan risked his life to save us, using his psychic powers to teleport us back to Earth. When I opened my eyes, we had already landed on the sea, and Geronimo was helping Pyunma to bring us both to the surface. I almost didn't feel the pain in my wounds, or how badly burned my skin was... I was alive. I felt alive. I was happy to live to see my friends again... and was happy to see that he had survived too.

Now, while we don't see each other all the time, we're still in contact. And this time, I'm visiting him in New York. After a whole day of activity along with the people he works with, I'm sitting by the window of his apartment...

"Joe..".

"Hm?".

I look at him. He's standing by the couch I'm sitting in, brining two mugs of coffee. "You've been silent all the while. Are you daydreaming again?".

I turn to him and smile. "Not exactly, Jet. I was... thinking".

He sits by my side. "... Really? Oh, meanwhile, take your mug. My hand might be burned soon.".

"Oops, sorry". I grab the mug and take a long sip of coffee. It's not too sugary... good. I may need the recipe for the times I have to pull all-nighters...

As soon as I'm done, he turns to me. "You didn't answer me, Joe", he says. "What were you daydreaming about, eh?

So many things, Jet. About so many things...

"Black Ghost".

"Hmmmm, that again?", he says, blinking. "I thought you were over it...".

With a sigh, I lean back on the sofa. "Jet... remember something Professor Gilmore said in the beach house, when we got there after we destroyed Black Ghost for the first time?".

"What?".

Oh, he doesn't. So, let me say it...

"You see... About the very only good thing we could attribute to Black Ghost".

He takes another sip, then leaves the mug on the nearby table. "After all the harm he did to us... something good? Can't really imagine it...".

I also leave my mug on the table. Then, I get closer to him.

"Jet, you know...". He's surprised when I lean against his shoulder, almost like cuddling. "None of us would've met each other if not for Black Ghost. None of us would be here, we don't know if we'd ever be alive...".

He doesn't say a thing.

"We're persons who should've never met each other. But all the distance between us, the ones who became the Cyborgs... it was wiped away by the ones of Black Ghost".

"Such an ironic little thing...", he murmurs. I find that phrase odd... but then, he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into an embrace.

"The worst man in the world... the one who sold his body and soul to those three brains... he brought us together. Heh, worthy of one big melodrama, ain't it?".

My eyes closed, I nod. Then I slowly pull him even closer to me...

And I have a brief mental image of us falling to Earth in an embrace, as I press my lips against his own.


End file.
